Cooling tower for liquids



Aug. 21, 1956 A. ODENTHAL.

COOLING TOWER FOR I .IQUIDS Filed July 24. 1952 United States Patent OCOGLING: TOWER FR LIQUIDS;

Artur Odenthal, Bochum, Germany,assignor toMaschincubani-Aktiengesellschaft Ealcke, Bochum, Germany ApplicationJuly 24, 1952, Serial No. 300,570

Claims priority, application Germany May. 2, 1952.

3 Claims. (Cl. 261--112) The invention relates to cooling towers forcooling a liquid such as water by means of a gaseous medium such as,air. There are two types of such cooling towers. In the first type, theso-called louvred type, the cooling elements are long small slats ofwood or another substance adapted to resist the corroding influence ofaggressive constituents of the liquid to be cooled. rFhese slats haveusually a width of two to four inches and are horizontally arranged sideby side with predetermined spaces therebetween.

ln the other type to which the invention relates, the cooling elementsconsist of vertical or at least approximately vertical plates. Theliquid to be cooled is applied by suitable, means to the side surfacesof these plates and runs on these surfaces downward in a continuous thinfilm. Thereby, the liquid. is not sprayed of atomised as at the lout/redcoolers, but trickles down from the lower edges of the plates of one setonto the upper edges of the plates of the next set and so on. ln coolingtowers of. the type having cooling plates, the loss of liquid`mechanically carried along with the gaseous cooling medium is small incomparison with that in cooling towers of the louvred type.

The main object of the invention is to effect automatically asubstantial vertical position of the cooling plates after they areinserted into the frame structure of the cooling tower.

As it is clear to those skilled in the art, the maximum cooling effectis obtained with cooling plates of predetermined cooling surfaces, ifthese plates are in a substantially vertical position.

Another object of the invention is the spacing of the cooling plates inan eifective and convenient manner. This spacing may differ in onesection of the cooling tower from the spacing in another section. Thespacing must be predetermined and ensured by suitable means which afforda proper quantity of cooling air to flow through the space between twoadjacent plates, the side surfaces of the plates being covered with athin iilm of the liquid to be cooled.

A further object of the invention is to facilitate the mounting of thecooling plates in the frame structure of the cooling tower.

The means and manner to attain these goals and other advantageousfeatures of the invention are explained with reference to theaccompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

Fig. l perspectively and schematically shows parts of a cooling tower ofthe plate type,

Fig. 2 illustrates a part of a cooling plate with a spacing elementattached thereon,

Fig. 3 is a front view of a spacing element,

Fig. 4 is a part sectional end view of the upper parts of some coolingplates with spacing elements, the section `being made along line IV -IVof Fig. 2,

Fig, 5 is a perspective illustration of a portion of a set of modifiedcooling plates according to the invention.

A cooling tower with cooling plates 5 is provided 'with side wallmembers and liquid distributing members Patented Aug. 2l, 195,6

adapted to apply the liquid to be cooled to the side surfaces of theplates 5. These members, being ofthe usual type, are not shown in thedrawings. The plates 5 are of rectangular shape, the shorter edgesthereof having a. length of at least one yard and the other edges havinga length twice. or more of the length of the smaller edges. Thereby, thesides of a plate, i. e. the cooling surface thereof have an area of atleast 40 square feet. The plates are provided with. protruding portions.5a at these ends. As shown at the left side of Fig. l, these. portions.5a are arranged on the short sides of the plates, and as shown at theright side of this figure, they are arranged on the long sides of thelongitudinal' plates. With their protruding portions, the plates restloosely upon horizontally elongated and parallel beams 4 of the framestructure. At right angles to the beams 4, there are horizontallyelongated and parallel beams 4a arranged on the frame structure,vertical posts 1 or horizontal ledges 3 up wardly extending from thebeams.

All plates 5. resting. loosely upon a pair of parallel beams 4 arearranged in groups. or sets by means of' the intersecting cross beams4a, as shown in Fig. l. Each beam 4a with its protruding portion 1 or 3respectively forms a spacer between two sets of plates 5, the groups of'aligned plates being spacedI from each other by means ot' the beams 4.Each set contains an odd number of platesS; Apertures 6.are provided? inthe odd-numbered plates. As illustrated. in Fig. 1the'holes 6 are`aligned to form paralleltransverse rows within each set of' plates 5;.Spacers 2 arel inserted into-the holesv 6.(Fig; 2)fformingf paralleltransverse rows'iofv spacers'within each set'. The ends of these spacerVrows abut against the protnudingup'- per portions of the adjacent beams4a;

Each spacer 2 has two parallel plates, orV discs 8v connected by arodlike spacer portion 7'attached eccentrically to the even inner sidesof the plates 2. When inserted into the apertures or holes 6, thespacers 2 rest with their portions 7 upon the lower edges of the holes,the plate portions 8 being astride the respective cooling plates,forming rows of spacers beneath the corresponding lines of the rows ofthe holes 6 (Fig. 4). A top portion 1 or 3 of a beam 4a abuts againstthe spacer plates or discs 8 on the outer side of an adjacent plate 5(Fig. l). At the abutting places, a protruding portion 1 or 3 may beprovided with suitable members such as screw bolts 9 to adjust thedistances between the outermost spacer plates S and the portions 1 or 3.

Instead of loosely inserted spacers 2, the plates 5 may be provided withledges, selvages, ribs, brackets, noses or the like on their sidesworking as spacers between two adjacent plates. These spacing membersmay be integral parts of the cooling plates for example protuberances asdesignated by numeral 10 in Fig. 5 or separate members rigidly attachedonto the sides of the plates. The plates 5 are preferably made ofmineral substances such as asbestos-cement adapted to resist thecorroding influences of aggressive constituents of the liquid to becooled. In many cases the liquid to be cooled has aggressive acid orbasic constituents.

The distances between two adjacent cooling plates 5 are fixed by thethickness of the spacer plates or discs 8 or their substitutes at apredetermined rate. These distances may be varied at the several sets ofcooling plates and also within the sets themselves. Thereby, thequantities of the gaseous medium flowing through the spaces between thecooling plates can be conveniently regulated. Preferably, cooling platesof great size are used. In this case, all sets of these plates may bearranged at the same level on the frame structure, as shown in Fig. l.Thereby, the mounting of the cooling plates is facilitated and isetfected more quickly than in conventional cooling towers. Furthermore,no special means are needed for holding the cooling plates in a proper,i. e. in a vertical position,

when inserted into the frame structure of the cooling tower.

What I claim is:

1, A cooling tower comprising a frame structure including firstsubstantially horizontal beams and second substantially horizontal beamsdisposed at an angle to said tirst beams, a plurality of sets ofindividual parallel and substantially vertical cooling plates, saidplates having laterally protruding marginal portions resting on oppositeones of said beams, and spacing means individually loosely supported byand extending from the surface of every other of said plates andabutting against the surfaces of the two neighboring plates whichsurfaces individually face the surfaces of the plates supporting thespacing means, said frame structure including spacer portions extendingvertically upwards from said substantially horizontal beams and beingabutted by the spacing means supported by the plates at the extreme endsof said sets.

2. A cooling tower comprising a frame structure including irstsubstantially horizontal beams and second substantially horizontal beamsdisposed at an angle to said first beams, a plurality of sets ofindividual parallel and substantially vertical cooling plates, saidplates having laterally protruding marginal portions resting on oppositeones of said beams, and spacing means individually including two plateportions and a spacer portion interconnecting said plate portions andhaving a cross section smaller than said plate portions and spacing saidplate portions as far as the thickness of said cooling plates, saidcooling plates having apertures affording passage of said plate portionsthrough said apertures, said plate portions being astride of therespective cooling plate and said spacer portions being supported bysaid cooling plates in said apertures, said spacing means being alignedto form a plurality of rows transversely extending through the coolingplates of a set of cooling plates, maintaining abutting relation of allspacing means and cooling plates along said rows, said frame structureincluding spacer portions extending vertically upwards from saidsubstantially horizontal means and being abutted by the spacing meanssupported by the plates at the extreme ends of said sits.

3. A cooling tower comprising a frame structure including rstsubstantially horizontal beams and second substantially horizontal beamsdisposed at an angle to said first beams, a plurality of sets ofindividual parallel and substantially vertical cooling plates, saidplates having laterally protruding marginal portions resting on oppositeones ot' said beams, said plates having apertures which are aligned toform a plurality of rows transversely extending through the coolingplates of a set of cooling plates, and spacing means having portionssubstantially conforming with said apertures and adapted to be passedtherethrough and being astride of the respective plates when saidspacing means are in operating position, said frame structure includingspacer portions extending vertically upwards from said substantiallyhorizontal beams and being abutted by the spacing means supported by theplates at the extreme ends of said sets.

References Cited in the lc of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 391,229Butler Oct. 16, 1888 682,417 Mills Sept. l0, 1901 747,892 Rodman Dec.22, i903 2,197,970 Eimer Apr. 23, 1940 2,224,221 Galsou Dec. 10, 194()2,631,022 Baird et al. Marl 10, 1953 FOREGN PATENTS 442,516 ltaly Nov.25, 1948 498,715 Great Britain Ian. 12, 1939 571,510 Great Britain Aug.28, 1945 710,630 Germany Sept. 18, 1941

